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This Week: Critics Choice Awards, New York Film Critics, Golden Globes, NBR

Roger Friedman
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This Week: Critics Choice Awards, New York Film Critics, Golden Globes, NBR

Here comes the big awards week. This is the week when a lot of different groups vie for attention as they hand out movie awards.

None of them are the Academy Awards. Those aren’t handed out until February 27th. The nominations won’t even be read until January 25th.

And this is the reason the Oscars should stay at the end of February. It’s good to let all these other groups get their moments in the sun.

Of course, two of this week’s groups come from credentialed critics; the other two are less, shall we say, serious.

Tonight, the New York Film Critics Circle has a modest ceremony. They bestow Best Picture on “The Social Network,” and gives it also Best Director (David Fincher). The NYFCC really liked “The Kids Are All Right,” so they awarded it Best Actress (Annette Bening), Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), and Screenplay (Lisa Cholodenko, the director also). I loved this movie. It won’t win the Oscar. But this is a nice way of rewarding it.

NYFCC gave Colin Firth the Best Actor prize for his standout performance in “The King’s Speech.” Melissa Leo got Best Supporting Actress for “The Fighter.”

The other critics group with an award show this week is the Critics Choice Award. It’s shown on Friday night on VH-1. Each year this show gets better and better. Last year, Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock locked lips-for fun- on the stage. The critics, drawn selectively from all over the country, send in their final votes today. No one will know until Friday who won what. I wish Les Moonves would promote this show from VH-1 to CBS. This could be the Tiffany network’s awards jewel in the crown. You can follow them at http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/critics_choice/_2011/tweettracker/

The two other shows this week range from ridiculous to who knows. On Tuesday night, the absolutely ridiculous National Board of Review, a group of fans who pay $600 a year to belong, hold a swanky dinner in Manhattan. The dinner is also around $600 a ticket, the NBR gives some kind of award to every movie so that the studios have to buy seats. This year they went heavily for “The Social Network.” They totally snubbed “True Grit” because it arrived late and they’d already made up their minds. Last year they snubbed “Precious.” They’re basically a joke.

Then, next Sunday, come the Golden Globes on NBC. The 80 member Hollywood Foreign Press Association is a complicated story. I’ll address it in the next day or so. They have an undeniably bad reputation. This year their own publicist mocked them. So did host Ricky Gervais on last year’s show. They gave nominations to two awful movies, “Burlesque” and “The Tourist.” hoping to get Christina Aguilera, Cher, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie on their red carpet. We’ll see on Sunday how that plan paid off.

Congresswoman Gifford’s Hollywood Connection to Paltrows

Roger Friedman
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Congresswoman Gifford’s Hollywood Connection to Paltrows

While everyone is praying for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords‘ speedy recovery, I can tell you that, yes, she does have a Hollywood connection.

Gabrielle Giffords‘ grandmother and Gwyneth Paltrow‘s late grandfather were brother and sister. That makes Gabrielle’s father, Spencer Giffords, and Gwyneth’s late director-producer father, Bruce Paltrow, first cousins.

Technically, Gabrielle and Gwyneth would be first cousins once removed. Or maybe second cousins.

In any case, it’s quite a family of achievers– a Congresswoman and an Oscar winner — nothing to sneeze at, as they say.

Giffords, like Gwyneth, is half Jewish on her father’s side. She’s also the first Jewish congresswoman from Arizona.

Kennedy Mini-Series Cancelled, Had Already Been Termed “Malicious, Vindictive”

Roger Friedman
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Kennedy Mini-Series Cancelled, Had Already Been Termed “Malicious, Vindictive”

by Roger Friedman

It shouldn’t come as much of a shock that the History Channel has decided to yank its mini series on the Kennedys. The question is, why did they make it in the first place?

Almost two years ago, when the project was announced by right wing filmmaker Joel Surnow, Kennedy defenders and historians made a pretty clear case against the mini series. They’d seen the script and termed the project a disaster. The whole saga can be found at www.stopkennedysmears.com

Robert Greenwald, a left wing filmmaker, and the man behind the clever anti-Fox News documentary “Outfoxed,” put up an 11 minute video on You Tube with dozens of withering attacks on the Kennedy project.

Surnow, the “Kennedys” producer, is a former Fox News producer and a close friend of the very biased: Roger Ailes and Rush Limbaugh. He also donates money frequently to Republican candidates and causes. It makes you wonder what the History Channel was thinking.

According to those who read the script two years ago, “The Kennedys” was not about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but rather a tabloid screed about John Kennedy‘s sex life. One reader called it “pornographic” in the Greenwald film. In the Greenwald film–which urged viewers to sign a petition to stop the Surnow movie–respected historian Thurston Clarke warns that if the Surnow film is made “it will be heartbreaking.”

It turns out the heartbreak is for the History Channel, and for the actors like Greg Kinnear (who I thought was smarter than this) and Katie Holmes. According to those who read the script, much of it details John Kennedy cheating on First Lady Jackie. The script included a scene of Kennedy and Judith Campbell Exner having sex in a swimming pool.

According to the imdb, other characters in this Kennedy “history” include mobster Sam Giancana and Exner ex lover Frank Sinatra. So this “Kennedys” hails from the Kitty Kelly branch of biography, and not Doris Kearns Goodwin.

The History Channel is part of AETN, a group that includes A&E and Lifetime. It’s termed a joint venture of ABC-Disney, NBC Universal and Hearst– all companies that no doubt had their ears open to complaints from the Kennedy family throughout this process. Reports say that Showtime is now interested in picking up the miniseries. Showtime is part of Viacom and a close cousin to Paramount. It may not be that easy.

Michael Jackson: Estate Files to Evict Squatters, Dr. Murray’s Story Gets Worse

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson: Estate Files to Evict Squatters, Dr. Murray’s Story Gets Worse

by Roger Friedman

Here’s a recap of what’s happening with Michael Jackson.

The Jackson estate has finally wised up and filed papers against Randy and Jermaine Jackson’s ex wife, Alejandra.

Alejandra, along with her grown children,  have been living rent free with Katherine Jackson at her Hayvenhurst home in Encino, California for years. But now that Hayvenhurst is part of Michael’s estate, the executors want her family out.

Alejandra, first married to Randy and then to Jermaine, has children with both Jackson brothers. According to many insiders, she feels entitled to live with Mrs. Jackson forever. Michael’s executors feel otherwise. The only people who are supposed to be living in Hayvenhurst are Mrs. Jackson and Michael’s three children.

A court date has been set for March 15th, and that’s when Alejandra can explain to a judge why she won’t leave. Meantime, Alejandra is threatening to “write” (someone will write it for her) a tell-all expose about her life as a double Jackson wife, mother of siblings who are also cousins to each other. She thinks there’s an audience for her story, and a publisher willing to pay millions. My guess is, she’s wrong.

At the same, the preliminary hearing against Dr. Conrad Murray continues. It’s all about numbers: how many phone calls Dr. Murray made after he administered Propofol to Michael, how many vials of potentially dangerous drugs were gound in the house after Michael died. Dr. Murray, prosecutor say, made eleven– 11– phone calls after Michael received what would be his fatal dose of Propofol.

Eleven calls–Dr. Murray, the prosecution has said, abandoned his patient. They are quite right. He abandoned him after giving him a drug no other person in the world receives at home because of its dangers.

Dr. Murray is more likely than not going to stand trial for Michael’s death. And a defense case that Jackson wound up killing himself is going to be laughed right out of court.

Mad Men’s 11 Year Old Sally Draper: “I’m Not Allowed to Watch the Show”

Roger Friedman
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Mad Men’s 11 Year Old Sally Draper: “I’m Not Allowed to Watch the Show”

Yes, “Mad Men” has been renewed for a fifth season–this is not a surprise, folks–and negotiations continue between the show’s creator, Matt Weiner, and AMC.

But the best “Mad Men” news came today at the Hallmark TCA panel. Our Randee Dawn reports from Pasadena that the 11 year old actress who plays Sally Draper, Kiernan Shipka was the funniest one on stage. Shipka is in a Hallmark Channel movie. During questioning, she revealed she’s not allowed to watch  “Mad Men”: “I just focus on the Sally parts. I
know the general storyline, but I’m not allowed to watch the show.”  She also revealed that while she likes Justin Bieber, “I don’t know if I have Bieber fever or anything.”

Here’s Randee Dawn‘s report from the AMC and Hallmark presentation, and other notes:

Hallmark hauled out two forthcoming movies: “Goodnight for Justice” (best understood as Jason Priestley directing Luke Perry in a
fairly standard Western) and “Smooch” (best understood as giving “Mad Men’s” Kiernan Shipka something to do other than pout and rebel).

As for Perry and Priestley, refugees from “Beverly Hills 90210.” they’re happy to be working together, but it does seem to have a doomed quality:
“We’re stuck with each other until death,” said Perry. “We’ve known that for a long time.”

AMC alerted the assembled that “The Walking Dead” will be returning with 13 episodes, more than double the initial order of 6 for the
first “season,” that “Mad Men” will “definitely” be coming back for Season 5 (meanwhile, negotiations continue with Matt Weiner), and
“Breaking Bad” is about to start shooting Season 4.

The network is getting back into Westerns with the series launch of “Hell on Wheels,”
a “post-Civil War revenge story,” while new series “The Killing”
(which follows one single murder investigation for at least 13
episodes – and which may not even be solved by then) looks promising….
Matt Olmstead (“Prison Break”) keeps on topic for A&E with his new
series “Breakout Kings,” in which convicts are enlisted to help track
down fugitives. One nice thing about consistent topics is that
Olmstead is able to bring characters from his “Prison” show onto the
new series: Favorite “Prison” villain T-Bag, played by Robert Knepper,
was announced as a planned guest on the new show.

But, noted EP Nick Santora, “We don’t want it to be a reunion show,” so don’t expect too many more of the criminal element…. Lifetime has announced five pilots
are going to order and will double its slate in 2011 to include four drama series, with 15 original films planned for later this year.

One new series is Heidi Klum’s “Seriously Funny Kids,” which should go
gangbusters unless you’re of the popular belief that Germans are not
terribly humorous. Klum will interview kids for humorous effect and
help prank them lightly; she noted “I don’t think anything like this
has been done before,” clearly unaware of either Art Linkletter or
Bill Cosby, both of whom made a stab at this same subject matter….

Watch live streaming video from academyawards at livestream.com

Oscar Race: 2 Serious Voters Discuss Their Choices Thus Far

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Race: 2 Serious Voters Discuss Their Choices Thus Far

I happened to sit down with two Academy voters last night–two actors (I’m not giving gender) who are names. They are not A list movie stars, but they are typical of a veteran Oscar voter. Each one has name brand brand acting to their credit. One of them plays character parts in film mostly. The other had a long, wildly successful TV run and is also a member of the DGA. They are people past the age of 65 who look terrific and still work, are still vibrant.

Here is our non scientific discussion.

Each of them loved “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network.” They cited all the actors from each film. “Basically it’s a toss of the coin,” they agreed. One said: “I loved Jesse Eisenberg.” The other was wild for Colin Firth. “King’s Speech” had the ever so slightest edge in their thinking. “Jeff Bridges for True Grit, maybe.” said one. And Hailee Steinfeld? “Maybe.”

There was disappointment about Ben Affleck and “The Town” not getting more attention. They loved Natalie Portman, but “Black Swan” not so much. Ditto James Franco but not “127 Hours.” They loved — LOVED– “The Fighter.” Each voter cited all the actors from “The Fighter.” Only one had seen “Rabbit Hole” and really liked Nicole Kidman.

Some more thoughts: Annette Bening got a very positive response–simultaneous “yes”es– but “Kids Are All Right” had a lukewarm response. Neither of them had seen “Inception.” They had lots of good things to say about–surprisingly–“Justin Timberlake. He was great being bad.” One of my voters shouted out the name “Gosling!” during our discussion of the Best Actors. They agreed to Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were terrific and would be nominated. The film, not so much.

These are two former New Yorkers, by the way, who are here often but live in Los Angeles. They take the voting seriously and don’t pass it off to kids, assistants, maids, or pets.

Oprah’s OWN: What Happened to Kirstie Alley, Eckhart Tolle?

Roger Friedman
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Oprah’s OWN: What Happened to Kirstie Alley, Eckhart Tolle?

Oprah Winfrey has launched her OWN Network and even announced a new show, with financial advisor Suze Orman, for later this year.

But what happened to her 2008 deal with Kirstie Alley?

And where is Eckhart Tolle? Two years ago Oprah turned over her almost all her resources to the jabbering new age bestselling author of gobbledy-gook. She even ran internet seminars via Skype with Tolle where she gushed over him like he was a saint.

At the TCA’s yesterday in Pasadena, our Randee Dawn got to ask OWN’s Christina Norman about these Oprah favorites. Norman denied that there have ever been deals with either Alley or Tolle, or even former CBS Distribution guru and onetime Harpo worker Terry Wood — that he would be coming to the network.

Here’s Randee’s report on the OWN presentation:

It was a strange mix of slate presentation – Norman introduced three
of the net’s new series before the Queen of All Media took the stage
solo – and drinking of the Kool-Aid. Permutations of being your “best
possible self” emerged from everyone, from Gayle King (who will bring
The Gayle King Show to the network as a live, five-day-a-week gabfest)
to the ten finalists on the Mark Burnett-produced Your OWN Show, which will give a six-episode series guarantee to the winner, selected from thousands of amateurs and semi-pros around the country.

Even Burnett is in on it: When asked why he’d contribute his time and
reputation to an untested network, he said, “If Oprah had asked me to
ride a unicycle naked backwards at night, I’d have said where and when.”

It’s fortunate that Oprah and her minions at least intend to do good –
but it’s also a little spooky at times; the Republicans and Fox News
have nothing on her people for pushing talking points.

At last Oprah took the stage, dressed casually in various hues of
purple, taking a seat in a comfy white chair. (Meanwhile, as she
talked for the next three-quarters of an hour, Norman stood
continuously nearby, really wanting to pee and considering taking a seat on the edge of the stage – as she noted later.) She fed off of
the audience’s energy and despite the potential hostility of the crowd
managed to catch a lot of softball questions, spending at least 15
minutes answering what her dreams and hopes have been.

She’s creating “mindful television” which can be on all day in your
home and never give you a reason to stay up at night. There’s
something to be said for all this positivism: “The intention of this
channel is to bring good energy, no matter what the programming is”
and “ratings … aren’t as important to me now as they might be to
[experts].”

On the other hand, there’s a fine line between positivism,
treacle and pabulum: Without a little frisson, we all go dead inside.
But maybe that’s just the cynical New Yorker in me.

In the end, not a lot got said but a lot of good feelings were shared.
And in the end, Oprah left the stage while Norman – who later denied
that any deals were in the works with rumored names like Kirstie Alley
and Eckhart Tolle, or that – got a chance
to use the facilities.

Mike Tyson Loves Pigeons, Discovery Needs Shark Officer

Roger Friedman
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Mike Tyson Loves Pigeons, Discovery Needs Shark Officer

More from Randee Dawn‘s adventures in Pasadena:

Discovery Networks brought the weird to the pre-Oprah/OWN portion of the TCA afternoon, with some of the following useful tidbits: A press release is calling for a “chief shark officer” at the network (pay: “chump change”) and they appear earnest in wanting to have someone apply ….

…A press release passed around announced that Ridley Scott will be producing eight episodes of “Prophets of Science Fiction” for Science Channel, profiling “great minds of science fiction who later inspired ‘science fact.’” The series kicks off in late 2011 …

…Mike Tyson revealed the depth of his world history knowledge while discussing pigeons and pigeon racing, which will be the topic of his new Animal Planet series “Taking on Tyson” (expert Vinnie Torre, Tyson’s pigeon trainer, called the flying rats “thoroughbreds of the air”) but neither of them had any advice for how to get them off of your fire escape.,,,,

…Science Channel newcomers Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington beamed in via satellite from London (while quaffing beers) to discuss Pilkington’s trip around the world in “An Idiot Abroad”…

While Gervais answered a question, Pilkington’s ear bud came off inside his ear and hilarity ensued: “There’s your science, for Chrissakes,” said Gervais, responding to the dubious queries about the series’ scientific qualifications. “This was my gift to the world,” he said about sending the gullible and somewhat naïf-like Pilkington off on his own, adding: “He’s the most fascinating thing on the planet.”

Megan Mullally: How She Turned Down Stephen Sondheim

Roger Friedman
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Megan Mullally: How She Turned Down Stephen Sondheim

Randee Dawn is reporting for us from the Television Critics’ panels in Pasadena:

Sure, Megan Mullally has a terrific (if ensemble) role the Web-to-cable series “Children’s Hospital.”

But that 15-minute-per-episode series doesn’t even begin to give the two-time Emmy winner enough room in the spotlight. Mullally, who (who last appeared on Broadway from 2007-09 in “Young Frankenstein”) says she’d love to get on the Great White Way again “down the road.”

But her husband Nick Offerman is getting big cheers these days on “Parks & Recreation,” so the couple must remain based out of L.A. full-time.

“We met in a play in L.A.,” said Mullally, “so we’re always looking for more chances to get on stage again.”

Not that offers aren’t coming in: Mullally said she was considering a role as Sally in Trevor Nunn’s new London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” but “it would have meant eight months out of the country” and she didn’t want to be away from her aging mother that long.

That said, there’s some potential LA-based big news for the “Will & Grace” star: Her next long-awaited starring role in a sitcom. “There’s something in development,” she teased, but wouldn’t say more – or indicate a network attachment. But “W&G” did so well for NBC in the past, the home of “please make us must-see again” (and “Parks”) should be willing to give her a series shot.

Still, her heart still lies on the East Coast: “Give my regards to New York!” she called out, before disappearing for yet more “Hospital” press interviews

Beatles in ITunes Deal that “Apple doesn’t want anyone to know about”

Roger Friedman
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Beatles in ITunes Deal that “Apple doesn’t want anyone to know about”

The Beatles’ deal with ITunes? Well, it diminishes their ailing record label, EMI.

In a most unusual deal that ITunes and Apple don’t want anyone to know about, the Beatles and their music publisher are being paid directly by the downloading service.

What does this mean? It means that EMI’s Roger Faxon, who made a big deal out of finally getting the Beatles connected to ITunes, made a concession unlike any other.

The story was first reported in Billboard and Reuters. http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE7050IC20110106

I’ve confirmed it independently, however.

What happens normally is that the record label–EMI in this case–cuts the deal with ITunes. Then they receive payments, or royalties, and distribute them to the artist and the music publisher. In a normal deal, EMI would be receiving money from ITunes on Beatles downloads, then sending them to Sony/ATV Music and to the Beatles’ company, Apple Corps (separate from ITunes’ Apple).

However, in this deal, EMI is the last to get paid. They have to wait for the Beatles to receive their money from ITunes. Then Apple Corps pays EMI. ITunes is also paying Sony/ATV directly all its music publishing royalties.

By doing it this way, the Beatles are likely receiving a higher royalty than if EMI were paying them. And so far the Beatles have sold hundreds of thousands of downloads on ITunes since they announced the deal a month ago. Still on the ITunes bestsellers chart are “Abbey Road,” “Sgt. Pepper,” the White Album, the red and blue greatest hits albums, and the Beatles box set.

ITunes/Apple, says my source, does not want this story getting out. “They don’t want to have to negotiate individually with every artist. This could be precedent setting.”

It’s also precedent setting for EMI, which is in dire financial shape and doesn’t have much leverage with anyone. There’s now speculation that EMI’s deal with Pink Floyd might be similar. Pink Floyd sued EMI and won over allowing downloads of their concept albums like “Dark Side of the Moon” in pieces. Now that Pink Floyd has finally re-signed their catalog to EMI, sources say that soon we won’t be able to download individual tracks from those albums. It’s unclear how ITunes will pay Pink Floyd–through EMI or their own company.

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